Resilience at Work
Have You Ever Felt “Fine”… But Quietly Exhausted?
You are showing up. Delivering. Leading but something feels off.
Not burnout in the dramatic sense just a constant, low-level pressure that never quite switches off. Those are micro stressors and they matter.
Research from American Psychological Association shows that chronic, low-level stress does not simply sit in the background. It accumulates. Over time, it begins to affect cognitive performance, decision-making, memory and long-term physical health.
When you place that within the lived experience of Black and ethnically diverse women, the picture becomes more complex and more concerning.
UK-based insights from Mental Health Foundation highlight that Black women are significantly more likely to experience sustained workplace stress, often driven not by one major incident, but by ongoing pressure, bias and under-recognition.
This is reinforced by data from Office for National Statistics, which continues to show persistent gender and ethnicity pay gaps, meaning many Black women are expected to deliver at a high level while being financially undervalued.
At the same time, labour market trends in both the UK and the United States point to disproportionate impact during periods of economic tightening. Reports from McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org indicate that women of colour are more likely to be in roles with less protection, fewer sponsors and higher exposure to redundancy during restructuring cycles.
In the US, similar patterns have been observed, where Black women are overrepresented in roles vulnerable to layoffs and underrepresented in senior decision-making positions where job security is often stronger.
Layered on top of this is the daily reality of microaggressions.
Research from Catalyst shows that women of colour are far more likely to experience “micro stressors” at work, being interrupted, overlooked, having their judgement questioned or needing to constantly adjust how they show up. These are often dismissed individually, but collectively they create a constant cognitive and emotional load.
This is where burnout becomes less about workload and more about context.
When you combine under-recognition, pay inequity, job insecurity and repeated microaggressions, the result is not just stress. It is sustained pressure without adequate recovery. That is what makes this conversation critical.
Not because stress exists but because for many women, it is structural, cumulative and still too often invisible.
Scholars such as Dr Thema Bryant emphasise that unprocessed stress does not disappear. It shows up in the body, in behaviour and in burnout.
Read the full post at https://www.nbwn.org/post/have-you-ever
Do you feel that you have experienced or witnessed the behaviour in other leaders, especially if it affects your communication, connections and relationships.
Like, comment and share with someone who would benefit from this post if it resonates with you.
